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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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NORTH WORCESTER: 



ITS FIRST SBTTLERS 



AND 



OLD FARMS. 



C. A. \A^ALL. 



NORTH WORCESTER: 

ITS KIRST SKTTLERS 



AND 



OLD KARIVLS 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE CHAMBERLAIN DISTRICT FARMERS' 
CLUB, AT THE RESIDENCE OF A. S. LOWELL, 
NORTH WORCESTER, DEC. 6, 1889. 



By CALEB A. WALL, 

Author of " Reminiscences of Worcester," " Puritans vs. The Quakers," Etc. 



. FEL\19!89U. 

Worcester : \ 2.- ^ U^ }' 



PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 



This is the first of a series of similar publications which the author is about to issue, 
containing his addresses at different historic points in the territory of Worcester, compris- 
ing accounts of the first settlers and their families, historical and genealogical, the location 
of their estates, etc. Those to follow will include the address at Lake Park, June 15, 
1889, giving an account of the earliest settlers west of Lake Quinsigamond; the address on 
Pakachoag Hill, July 13; and others to be given in different sections of this city, including 
Sagatabscot Hill, Quinsigamond Village, Tatnuck, etc., relating to their respective locaUties 
in the past. The whole, bound together, will constitute a sequel or second volume to my 

" Reminiscences of Worcester," published in 1877. 

C. A. W. 
January 1, 1890. 



[PBE3S OF F. S. BLA.NCHARD & CO.] 



Copyright, 1890. 



/> ,, 



NORTH WORCESTER: 

ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS 



There was a gathering of unusual local historical 
interest at the residence of A. S. Lowell, North Worcester, 
Friday evening, December 6, 1889, held under the 
auspices of the Chamberlain District Farmers' Club, by 
invitation of Mr. Lowell, to hear an address by Caleb 
A. Wall, on the history of the first settlers and old farms 
in that locality. 

Near the railroad station here are two ancient square 
built mansions of similar construction, erected for two 
brothers by their father, the history of which, and of the 
farms to which they belong, dates back to the beginning 
of the town. 

One of these old estates, that on Brattle Street, north- 
east of the depot, has been owned and occupied about 
two years by Mr. Lowell, who has tastefully refitted 
the old mansion, while preserving its ancient architectural 
features ; the other of these two old estates is that 
owned and occupied by the family of the late J. L. Libby, 
just south of the depot, on the east side of Holden Street, 
the ancient house on which, also, preserves very much 
the same architectural appearance as it possessed long 
anterior to the days of our revolutionary sires. 

At Friday evening's meeting at Mr. Lowell's, besides 
members of the Club, whose territory includes this sec- 
tion, numerous others interested in such matters 
were present, including many of our prominent citizens. 
The evening was an unusually pleasant one, with a clear 
sky overhead, and a full moon shining brightly, adding 
greatly to the delightfulness of the occasion. A party 
of nearly one hundred assembled at about seven o'clock. 



4 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER: 

and after a social half hour, were called to order in the 
spacious parlors by P. F. Sears, Vice-President of the 
Club, the President, Pliny Moore, coming later. At 
7.30 p. m. Mr. Wall was introduced, and gave his address, 
as follows : 

CALEB A. WALL'S ADDRESS. 

One of the earliest proprietors of Worcester, at the 
beginning of its permanent settlement, after the close of 
Queen Anne's War, so called, in 1713, was James Knapp, 
or Knopp, as sometimes written on the old records. He 
came here from Newton, where he was born February 
4, 1691. He had a grant of 250 acres of land including 
the spot where we now are. It took in, besides the fine 
farm of our excellent host, the adjoining and surround- 
ing estates of James E. Fuller, C. C. Foster, Mrs. Libby, 
Mrs. Allen, John McTammany, Charles P. Geeser, and 
others. This was a century and three-quarters ago, when 
Worcester was resettled after the previous devastation by 
the Indians,* lots then beginning to be taken up as 
granted by the Committee of the General Court to the 
first settlers at different points within the original 
territory of Worcester, which included, besides what 
is now Worcester, the present territory of Holden^f 
and the north east quarter of Auburn. f 

Before speaking further of this land of Knapp, and its 
subsequent conveyance to and division among other 
parties, it is proper to say something about him. He 
was the second son of John, Jr., and Sarah (Parks) Knapp 
of Newton, his father being the eldest son of John, Sr., 
and Sarah (Young) Knapp of Watertown. John Knapp, 
Sr., born in England in 1624, was a carpenter, son of 
William Knapp, also a carpenter, a proprietor of Water- 
town in 1636-7, who came over from England with his 
sons, William, Jr., John and James, in 1630. 

James Knapp, the original proprietor of the lands in 
this vicinity, was thus great-grandson of the emigrant 
ancestor, William Knapp. He married, first, April 2, 

* See " Ileminisceaees of Worcester," pages 12-17. 
t Ibid, pages 128-30. 



ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 5 

1714, Elizabeth Bond, daughter of Dea. William, Jr. and 
Hepsibah (Hastings) Bond of Watertown, by whom he had 
a son Jonathan, born October 23, 1714, and after her death 
January 12, 1716, he married, October 10, 1716, Mary 
Fisk, sister of the wife of Benjamin Flagg,* an original 
settler of Worcester, some of whose lands here were in 
the vicinity of his own, and Knapp then came here, 
where his next five children were born, as follows : 
Abijah, October 2, 1717; Mary, December 16, 1719; 
Benjamin, August 31, 1721 ; James, Jr., October 27, 1723 ; 
and Elisha, December 6, 1725. James Knapp then sold 
out all his estate in Worcester and moved away. Among 
his subsequent children, born probably in Watertown, 
were Elizabeth, born May 15, 1729, and John, born 
October 31, 1731. Of those children, Abijah went to 
Marlborough, where he married in 1744, Abigail Ward; he 
was in Marlborough in 1762, and went thence to Petersham 
and afterwards to Athol. James, Jr., went to Medway. 
and thence, in 1773, to Sturbridge, where he was in 1797. 
John went from Worcester in 1759 to Petersham, and 
thence in 1785 to Spencer. Benjamin was in Sturbridge 
in 1744. 

James Knapp, the father, was chosen surveyor of high- 
ways at the first annual March town meeting in Worces- 
ter, and he had a seat granted him in the second of the 
sixth section of seats at the first regular or official assign- 
ment of seats in the first meeting house on the old Common 
in 1724. Besides the 250 acres of land in this vicinity, 
James Knapp had a grant of land November 22, 1718, 
by order of the General Court's Committee, of " 75 acres 
for a second division with three acres allowance for a 
highway four rods wide running through it, this land 
lying on the north side of his house lot, and on the east 
side of Mill Brook." This would indicate that James 
Knapp did not build or settle on any part of his 250 
acres in this vicinity, but on the lot granted to him just 
south of the above-mentioned 75 acres granted to him in 
1718. The location of this was near to and included the 
site of tlie present residence of Edwin P. Curtis on Burn- 

* See "Reminiscences," pages 106-8. 



6 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER: 

coat Street. This estate, then comprising 90 acres, and 
including all the estate James Knapp then owned in 
Worcester, Knapp sold, March 7, 1726, to Thomas 
Gleason, from Shrewsbury, and previously of Sudbury, 
ancestor of the race of Gleasons afterwards so numerous 
in the northern section of the town, of whom I shall have 
more to say at the proper time. This Thomas Gleason, 
who filled at different times the positions of constable, 
highway surveyor, and tythingman, lived on that spot till 
his decease in 1756, leaving a large family of sons and 
daughters, this estate, to which his son Isaac succeeded, 
passing out of the family over 75 years ago, before Mrs. 
Curtis's grandfather, Walter Bigelow, senior, pur- 
chased it.* 

Richard Temple, born in Concord, in 1674, and a resi- 
dent of Shrewsbury from 1724 to 1738, when he went 
back to Concord, was the purchaser, before 1725, from 
James Knapp, of the 250 acres above mentioned. He 
made the purchase for his two sons, Joseph and William 
Temple, and a son-in-law, William Harris, among whom 
he divided it. Two of these being housewrights by trade 
and the other a surveyor, they probably erected the 
first houses upon it, two of which are still standing, 
substantial as well as venerable specimens of ancient 
architecture, in one of which we are now assembled. 
September 1, 1730, Richard Temple, then a resident of 
Shrewsbury, "for love and good will, and his advance- 
ment in the world," etc., conveyed to his son Joseph 
Temple, 65 acres of land, " part of the 250 acres which 
the said Joseph Temple purchased of James Knapp, and 
bounded on the south by that part of the 250 acres which 
his son William Temple lived on, and on the west by that 
part which the son-in-law lived on." At the same time 
he deeded to his daughter Mary, wife of William Harris, 
house Wright, 50 acres, another part of the said 250 acres, 
" for love and good will," etc.; and January 23, 1735, he 
deeded to his son William Temple, house wright, 65 acres 
of land, another part of said 250 acres, south of that 
occupied by Joseph, for the same consideration of " love 

* See " Reminiscences," page 45. 



ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 7 

and good will," etc. This would show that these ancient 
houses were then here. Joseph Temple's portion 
included the spot where we now are, and this is the 
house he built and lived in. The ancient house south of 
this, on Holden Street, and similar to this in construction, 
where the family of the late J. L. Libb}'^ now live, was 
the residence of William Temple, which he built. The 
estate of William Harris was westerly of Joseph Temple's, 
and north-westerly of William Temple's, the ancient 
house in which several generations of that family lived 
having long since disappeared. 

This Richard Temple was a son of Abraham and grand- 
son of the original emigrants, Richard and Joanna 
Temple, who were of Salem in 1648, and afterwards of 
Concord. Neither of the Temple brothers remained 
during their lifetime upon the estates thus given them 
by their father. 

Among the town offices filled by Joseph Temple was 
that of field driver in 1740, hogrefeve in '41, surveyor of 
highways and juryman in '42, and constable in '52. 
His brother, William Temple, was surveyor of highways 
in 1736, and field driver in 1739, and in the assignment 
of seats in the first meeting house on the old Common 
in 1733, as described in my " Reminiscences of Worces- 
ter," pages 113 and 114, he occupied a seat in " ye second 
section in ye foremost gallery." William Harris was 
surveyor of highways in 1737, '38 and '41 ; and hogreeve 
in 1732, '33, '39, '42, '43, and '44 ; and he occupied a seat 
in " ye second section in ye long gallery," in that old 
meeting house. Robert Peables, whose estate the first 
Elisha Smith purchased and resided upon, west of North 
Pond, was assigned a seat in this first meeting house, " in 
ye second section in ye body," as will be seen by the 
description and plan referred to. 

Joseph Temple sold out his 65 acres (including where 
we now are) May 1, 1772, for £292, 6s. and 8d., to Levi 
Houghton of Ashby, who lived here ten years. William 
Temple sold out his estate, including the original portion 
of the Libby estate south of us, March 22, 1740, for £510, 
to Elisha Smith, from Waltham, the first one of four 



8 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER: 

generations of that name who have lived on different 
portions of that estate or the immediate vicinity, of 
whom more will be said later. William and Mary 
(Temple) Harris's descendants also remained on their 
ancestral estate, or on different portions of it, west of 
us, for several generations, an account of whom now 
would swell this address to too great a length. 

Levi Houghton sold, November 15, 1782, for £650, 
93 1-2 acres, including the above 65 acres bought of 
Joseph Temple, to Josiah Lyon, yeoman, of Worcester, 
and the latter sold March 18, 1791 for £475, 88 1-2 acres 
of this, in two tracts, including the 65 acres where we 
are, to Simeon Fish, yeoman, from Mendon, and Mr. 
Fish sold the same April 10, 1795, to Francis Thaxter of 
Hingham, who conveyed it April 13, 1796, to Benjamin 
Farrar of Abington, and the latter sold the same estate 
April 12, 1799, to Nathan Patch, a celebrated real estate 
owner and speculator of his time, who sold it September 
22, 1800, to his son Joseph Patch. The next owner was 
Joseph Daniels from Sherborn, who purchased it of the 
Patches, November 18, 1807, for $4000. Joseph Daniels's 
wife. Thankful, was daughter of James Penniman of 
Medway, and sister of Abigail, wife of the first Samuel 
Damon of Holden. Joseph Daniels died about 1820, 
leaving his estate to his son Joseph Daniels, Jr., who 
married Eliza Glazier, daughter of Calvin and Eliza 
(Pierce) Glazier of Rutland. Joseph, Jr., and Eliza were 
parents of Mrs. Lewis Thayer, now residing at No. 142 
Lincoln Street ; of Mrs. John Mason, now residing at 
No. 9 John Street; of the wife of the late Loison D. 
Towne, formerly residing at No. 10 Harvard Street; and 
of the late Joseph D. Daniels, whose widow resides at 
No. 18 Harvard Street. Joseph Daniels, Jr., carried on 
the farm for several years, till the estate, under his 
improvident management, passed through a heavy mort- 
gage, about 1831, into the hands of his cousin, the late 
Col. Samuel Damon of Holden, son of the first Samuel 
Damon, the mortgage being subject to the right of 
dower of Thankful Daniels, the widow of Joseph Daniels, 
Sr. The farm was managed for two years, from 1831 to 



ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 9 

1833, by Robert S. Gleason, whose wife was a daughter 
of Daniel Davis, the latter' s wife being a daughter of 
Francis Daniels, brother of Joseph, Sr. October 1, 1833, 
Col. Damon, for the sum of $3500, conveyed the estate, 
then comprising 152 acres, to Robert S. Gleason and 
Ezekiel Newton, the latter having for two years previous 
worked for Mr. Gleason on the farm. They managed 
the estate together for six years, till April 15, 1839, 
when the widow, Thankful Gleason, sold out to them her 
right of dower and interest in the estate, where she had 
resided for thirty years, and went to reside with her 
grand daughter, Mrs. Robert S. Gleason, on Ararat 
Street ; Mr. Gleason, at the same time, disposing of his 
half of the estate to Charles Newton, a brother of Ezekiel, 
and these two brothers then managed the old farm 
together for six years, both residing with their respective 
families in this house, in which both held their honey- 
moon receptions at their marriage, Ezekiel in 1835 and 
Charles in 1842, after coming here. The elder of these 
two brothers, our respected veteran friend, Ezekiel 
Newton, at my right, hale and hearty in his 78th year, 
we are all happy to greet with us to-night, from his 
new home in Westborough; also a younger surviving 
brother, at my left, Abraham H. Newton, who can 
give many pleasant recollections of his boyhood here. 

About 1846, the old farm was divided, Ezekiel Newton 
taking the northern half, and Charles the southern half 
extending to Ararat Street, on which latter half Charles 
Newton built the house now occupied by architect James 
E. Fuller; the preceding owner of this half, which has 
had many owners since Charles Newton sold it, about 
186], being our friend C. C. Foster. Ezekiel Newton 
owned and occupied the northern half of this original 
estate, including the house we are in, till 1870, when, 
after residing here thirty-nine years, he sold it to the 
late Charles H. Geeser, who owned and occupied it till 
his decease, and after him his son, the present Charles P. 
Geeser, who sold it in 1884 to Walter S. Bugbee, now of 
Shrewsbury ; and the latter sold it in 1887 to the present 
owner and occupant, our generous host. When Mr. 



10 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER: 

Geeser sold out here, he built his present residence just 
across the road. When Joseph Daniels, Jr., lived here, he 
kept a store in this house for many years, where he was 
a licensed retailer of intoxicating drinks, in accordance 
with an old custom, unfortunately, not yet extinct in too 
many places, though long since extinguished from this 
locality ; and it is ardently hoped, since the glorious 
result of the recent vote on the question by our citizens, 
that the whole city may be redeemed from the terrible 
curse. 

The widow. Thankful Daniels, after removing from 
her old homestead here, in 1840, resided with her 
grand daughter, Mrs. Robert S. Gleason, on Ararat Street, 
where she died January 10, 1852, aged 93 years, 
7 months and 4 days, and was buried in Rural Cemetery. 
Eliza G. Daniels, widow of Joseph Daniels, Jr., died Jan- 
uary 28, 1861, aged 71 years and 7 months, at the 
residence of her son, the late Joseph D. Daniels, on Har- 
vard Street. 

Richard^ Newton, progenitor of the Newtons in New 
England, came from England and was one of the first 
settlers in Sudbury in 1640, and one of the petitioners 
for Marlborough, where he settled in 1660, in the south- 
ern part afterwards set olf for Southborough, where and 
in Westborough and Shrewsbury, he has descendants. 
He died at the old homestead in Southborough, August 
24, 1701, aged 100 years. His son Moses,- born in 1646^ 
married in 1768 Joanna Larkin, and had in Southborough, 
Moses,^ Jr., born in 1669, who married in 169o, Sarah 
Howe, and their three sons, Aaron,^ Elislia,* and Ezekiel,* 
were among the first settlers in Shrewsbury, where they 
had numeYous descendants. Elisha* married in 1728, 
Sarah Tomlin of Westborough, and had in Shrewsbury 
twelve children, of whom the sixth son and eighth 
child was Charles,^ born August 28, 1742, who married 
in 1765, Tabitha Bowker of Westborough, and had in 
Shrewsbury five children, of whom Ezra^, born November 
22, 1774, married January 28, 1812, Lucy Howe of 
Princeton, and settled there, they being parents of the 
above mentioned Ezekiel, Charles, and Abraham H. New- 



ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 11 

ton. The father died with his oldest son Ezekiel, in this 
house, April 10, 1863, while the youngest son Abraham 
H. was a soldier in the Union Army, in company F, 51st 
regiment, and not, as the minister said at his father's 
funeral, " a wanderer up and down the earth." Charles 
died about two years ago, in Millbury, and the other 
surviving brother, Ezra, Jr., has been a resident of the 
far west for some thirty years. 

Elisha Smith, who bought in 1740 the estate of 
William Temple, including the Libby house and the 
original 60 acres of that estate, was son of Jonathan and 
Jane (Peabody) Smith of Watertown, where he was born 
January 11, 1692. Jonathan, born in 1659, was son of 
Thomas Smith, who came to America in the summer of 
1635, then aged 35, and settled in Watertown, where he 
died, March 10, 1693, aged 93. He was admitted free- 
man of the Massachusetts colony. May 17, 1637. He 
married Mary, daughter of William Knapp, before refer- 
red to, by whom he had nine children, born between 
1637 and 1662, of whom Jonathan, born in 1659, was 
father of Elisha. Elisha Smith thus bore the blood 
relationship of second cousin to the original proprietor of 
this land, James Knapp, both being grandsons of William 
Knapp. This relationship may have led to the Smiths 
coming here, Elisha Smith married, March 25, 1713, 
Patience Brown, daughter of Captain Abraham and Mary 
(Hyde) Brown, of that part of old Watertown, afterwards 
Waltham, and they had there these six children : First, 
Jonathan, born January 23, 1715, who married Novem- 
ber 8, 1736, Susanna Stearns, daughter of Isaac and 
Mary (Bemis) Stearns of Waltham, and sister of 
Nathaniel Stearns of Holden. Jonathan and Susanna 
settled in Lunenburg on 100 acres of land there, given 
him by his father, where they had Reuben, Simon, Mary, 
and Patience, of whom the latter married a Stiles, and 
Jonathan died before his father. 

Elisha Smith's second child. Patience, born February 
23, 1717, married December 6, 1733, Abraham Sander- 
son, who was born in Watertown, March 28, 1711, and 
they also settled in Lunenberg, on seventy acres of land 



12 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER: 

given them by her father, on the northern border of the 
town, adjoining Townsend, where Abraham and Patience 
had thirteen children, of whom the fourth one was Jacob 
Sanderson, a minute man of the revolution, at the battle 
of Bennington, who married in Worcester in 1760, 
Elizabeth Child, and settled in Lunenburg on 400 acres 
of land he purchased east of his father. The homestead 
farm of the first Abraham Sanderson in Lunenburg is 
still in the family, being owned and occupied by his 
great-grandson, Richard Gilchrist, in the original gable 
roofed house, to which many pilgrimages are made by 
descendants of the original settler. The grave of this 
venerable ancestor is marked by a headstone of slate in 
the old cemetery in Lunenburg, inscribed "Abraham 
Sanderson, died December 4, 1776, aged 86." His wife 
Patience lies by his side. Abraham was the second of 
five children of Samuel and Mercy (Gale) Sanderson of 
Watertown, grandson of Dea. Jonathan and Abiah (Bart- 
lett) Sanderson, and great-grandson of the original 
settlers, Edward and Mary (Eggleston) Sanderson of 
Watertown. The name of this family was frequently 
written in the old records Sanders, and Saunders. 

Among the numerous descendants of the Jacob San- 
derson above mentioned, is his great-grandson, our 
esteemed fellow citizen, present with us to-night, Rev. 
Alonzo Sanderson, pastor of Laurel Street church, whose 
father, Jesse Sanderson, is still living in Lunenburg, hale 
and hearty at 86. 

The third child of Elisha and Patience ( Brown) Smith 
was Elisha Smith, Jr., born June 4, 1719, who married 
Susanna Gleason, born in 1722, the oldest of eleven 
children of Thomas Gleason of Worcester, before men- 
tioned. Elisha, Jr., and Susanna, settled on the estate 
which his father, Elisha Smith, Sr., bought in 1740 of 
William Temple ; while the father settled on another 
estate of 140 acres south of it and west of and adjoining 
North Pond, which he purchased the year previous, Feb- 
ruary 8, 1739, of Richard Peables, another extensive 
original proprietor of land in this part of Worcester. 
This purchase of 140 acres included the farms 
now of R. J. Pierce, Eben and W. C. Jewett, and others. 



ITS FIEST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 13 

Of the other children of Elisha, Sr., and Patience 
(Brown) Smith, Isaac settled on 87 acres of land given 
him by his father in the south east part of Holden, and 
Eunice was wife of Isaac Gleason, who resided where 
his father, Thomas Gleason, before spoken of, lived, 
on Burncoat Street, where Edwin P. Curtis now lives. 
By a second wife, Abigail, whom he married in 1730, 
Elisha Smith, Sr., had five other children, of whom 
Abraham settled on 120 acres of land given him by his 
father in Lunenburg, and Robert, born in Waltham in 
1737, two years before the father came to Worcester, 
settled on the paternal homestead given him by the 
father at his decease in 1765, west of the pond, including 
the land where R. J. Pierce and E. and W. C. Jewett 
now live. This old estate, then comprising 252 acres, 
Robert Smith sold in 1776 to Asa Ward, father of the 
former Register of Deeds, Artemas Ward. Robert 
Smith then removed to his last residence on Ararat 
Street, where his son-in-law, Jonathan Gleason, Jr., and 
the latter's sons, Robert S.* and Benjamin F. Gleason 
afterwards lived, the main part of that estate having 
been for many years owned and occupied by C. B. 
Sweetser, and a portion of it by the family of the late 
Benjamin F. Gleason, who died February 16, 1869, 
aged 53 ; his father Jonathan Gleason, Jr., died May 3, 
1838, aged 66 ; and the latter's widow, Esther, 
daughter of Robert Smith, died December 31, 1866, 

* Robert S. Gleason sold out his interest on Ararat street to his brother 
Benjamin F. in 1855, and removed his residence to Beach street, and after- 
wards to Washington street, where he died in 1870, and his widow lived 
there after him. Their grandfather, Jonathan Gleason, Sr., father of 
Jonathan Jr., was the oldest of ten children of the above mentioned Isaac 
Gleason, who died in 1777, several of whose children settled on difterent 
portions of the extensive landed estates of their father, Isaac Gleason, on 
both sides of Burncoat street. Jonathan Gleason, Sr., lived in the ancient 
house still standing on the west side of West Boylston street in Xorthville, 
now owned by Joseph Stone, and his son, Jonathan, Jr., was the oldest of 
his eleven children. They are descendants of Thomas Gleason, from the 
old country, admitted freeman of the Massachusetts Colony in 1652, who 
settled first in Watcrtown, was of Cambridge early as 1G57, of Charlcstowu 
in 1662, and afterwards in Cambridge, where lie died in 1684. He was 
great-grandfather of the first Thomas Gleason of Worcester, above men- 
tioned. A fuller genealogy of these and other old Worcester families will 
form subjects of future essays or addresses of this series. 



14 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER: 

aged 95, at the residence of her daughter on Ararat 
Street. 

Robert Smith had two sons and seven daughters : 
1, David, resided on 21 acres of land given him by the 
father, in Holden ; 2, Amos, married a Winn and resided 
on a farm in Holden, also given him by the father ; 
3, Abigail, married in 1780, Benjamin Rice of Barre and 
had six children there ; 4, Lydia, married Daniel Ball ; 

5, Sarah, married in 1786 Samuel Bixby of Barre ; 

6, Ruth, married Aaron Parker of Holden, grandfather of 
Charles E. Parker, present here to-night ; 7, Esther, mar- 
ried Jonathan Gleason, Jr., and succeeded to the paternal 
estate on Ararat Street, as before mentioned ; 8, Hannah, 
married Josiah Flagg, and had Jonathan, Joel, and others ; 
9, another daughter married a Ward. Seven of these 
children were by Robert Smith's first wife Sarah, who died 
February 21, 1766, aged 33, and the last two were by his 
second wife, Elizabeth Goodale, sister of Paul Goodale, 
Sr.. of West Boylston. Robert Smith died July 4, 1807, 
aged 70, at his last residence on Ararat Street, and his 
widow died there October 6, 1837, aged 96 years and 7 
months. Robert and his brother, Elisha Smith, Jr., and 
their father, Elisha, Sr., had seats assigned them in the 
meeting house erected on the old Common in 1763, 
according to the plan printed in my " Reminiscences of 
Worcester," at page 113. Elisha, Sr., and his son Robert 
occupied the same slip or pew at the right of the pulpit, 
as will be noticed. Among other official positions, Rob- 
ert Smith was selectman in 1778 and '79 ; his brother 
Elisha, Jr., was one of the building committee of the 
meeting house in 1763, one of the school committee in 
1753, and surveyor of highways in 1744, with other town 
duties ; and their father Elisha, Sr., was surveyor of 
highways of the town in 1740, '43, '46, '47, and '49 ; 
school committee in 1740, and '43 ; collector of taxes in 
1747 and '49 ; and selectman and assessor in 1752. 

Elisha Smith, Sr., married for his third and last wife, a 
widow, Sarah Melvin of Concord, August 12, 1741, two 
years after he came to Worcester. She survived him 
three years, leaving at her decease in 1768 four sons, 



ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS, 15 

John, Ebenezer, Josiah, and Nathan Melvin, by a former 
husband, and also a daughter, Sarah, who married a 
Barnes. This first EUsha Smith was one of the most 
extensive landed proprietors of his time. Besides his 
homestead which he left to his son Robert, and the 60 
acres he bought of William Temple, which he gave to 
his son Elisha, Jr., he owned by grant or purchase, 
several hundred acres of land in Worcester, Holden, and 
Lunenburg, on which he settled his different sons and 
sons-in-law, as before alluded to. The original house on 
the estate in which Elisha and his son Robert Smith 
lived, stood where E. and W. C. Jewett's house now 
stands, which latter was built about 1834, when the 
original house was torn down, by the late Benjamin Reed. 

Elisha Smith, Jr., who married Susanna Gleason, resid- 
ed where Mrs. Libby now lives, and had there four sons 
and nine daughters, born between 1741 and 1758, an 
account of whom and of the families of those who mar- 
ried would form an extensive chapter in itself, and must 
be deferred to some other time or occasion. The second 
son and third child, Elisha Smith, the third, born July 6, 
1744, was a sea captain; he married, January 13, 1774, 
Persis Child, daughter of John Child, a hotel keeper, 
whose residence was a little over Worcester line, north- 
erly of the Smiths and Harrises. Elisha Smith the third 
and Persis, who had ten children, resided on the estate 
given him by his father, where C. C. Foster now lives, 
and where his son, Elisha Smith the fourth, who married 
Betsy Howe of Holden, afterwards lived and died ; the 
third Elisha Smith died there in 1806, aged 60, and his 
son the fourth Elisha, September 22, 1850, aged 76 ; a 
nephew of the latter, the late Walter H. Davis, who took 
care of his uncle in his last days, afterwards owning and 
occupying that estate, which has since had many different 
owners and occupants. 

Daniel Smith, who died in 1856, aged 81, was a 
brother of the fourth Elisha, and resided in the brick 
building in the rear on that portion of the parental estate 
which he inherited from the father. 

The homestead estate of the second Elisha Smith, 



16 AN HISTORICAL ADDEESS — NORTH WORCESTER : 

where Mrs. Libby lives, passed out of the family after 
his decease, to Benjamin Thaxter of Abington, whose 
title to it, then comprising 105 acres, bears date Novem- 
ber 27, 1792. Since then the estate has been best 
known as the Thaxter Place, although the Thaxters owned 
/^ it only about 3^ years. Benjamin Thaxter died there 
April 21, 1821, aged 63, and his widow and son Fran- 
cis lived there after him till the estate passed out of 
the family about 182^1^/)The next owner and occupant 
was Thomas A. Aldricli, from Rhode Island, who sold 
it in 1849 to the late Dea. Alpheus Merrifield, the 
latter purchasing it for his son, the late Francis N. Mer- 
rifield, who lived there, and sold it about 1866 to the 
late James L. Libby, and the latter's family still own and 
occupy it. 

Asa Ward, who purchased in 1776 of Robert Smith, 
the homestead estate of his father, the first Elisha Smith, 
west of North Pond, sold the same in 1781 to Dea. 
Ebenezer Reed, from Uxbridge, who resided on that por- 
tion of it where R. J. Pierce now lives, till his death 
May, 11, 1823, aged 81 years, and his son Samuel T. 
Reed lived there after him till his death, April 21, 1832, 
aged 58, the latter's brother, the late Benjamin Reed, 
taking that portion of the original estate ^afterwards 
purchased by the late Ebenezer Jewett, father of the 
present Eben Jewett, who now resides thereon with his 
son, Warren C. Jewett. That portion of the original 
estate where the late Samuel T. Reed lived and where R. 

* Benjamin Thaxter was a native of Hingham, and brother, probably, 
of the Francis Thaxter who owned the Daniels place awhile. Benjamin 
Thaxter married, before he came to Worcester, Sarah Howe, of Abington, 
and they had these six children : 1, Sarah, born in 1786, married, August 
30, 1815, Joseph Avery of Plymouth, son of Rev. Joseph Avery, pastor of 
the old church in Holden, from 1774 till his death in 1824, aged 72 years ; 

2, Benjamin, Jr., born in 1788, died September 6, 1886, in Boston, aged 98 ; 

3, Mary H., born in 1793, married, July 12, 1826, Henry Wheeler, son of 
Theophilus Wheeler, Register of Probate from 1793 to 1836, and she died 
November 19, 1874, aged 81, at the old Wheeler homestead on Main Street, 
where her husband and his father and grandfather had lived, and where 
also her sister, Mrs. Avery, died February 17, 1873, aged 87; 4, Francis, 
succeeded his father on the old Thaxter estate at North Worcester, and 
died unmarried, September 14, 1851, aged 54 years, at the residence of his 
sister, Mrs. Henry Wheeler; 5, Martin H., died September 21, 1826, aged 
43, in Florida; 6, Fanny L., died August 31, 1859, aged 68, unmarried, at 
her sister's Mrs. Henry Wheeler. See " Reminiscences of Worcester," 
page 257. 



ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS 17 

J. Pierce now lives, was purchased of the Reed heirs in 
1836 by the late Nathan Rogers, from Holden, father 
of ex-alderman Thomas M. Rogers. Nathan Rogers car- 
ried on the farm alone for two years, till 1838, when his 
son, the late Jeremiah Rogers, joined him, and they 
carried on the farm together till the father's death in 
1855, when Jeremiah's son, George P. Rogers, purchased 
of the heirs his grandfather's half of the farm, and 
George P. Rogers and his father owned and occupied the 
farm together till 1865, when they sold out to Granger 
and R. Judson Pierce, and they managed it together till 
the death of Granger Pierce, since which time R. J. 
Pierce has owned and managed it alone. 

But, ladies and gentlemen, I will not weary you with a 
further detail of facts or statistics at this time. Let me 
close with a few moralising reflections pertinent to the 
topic and occasion, on what has been said. 

As we review the history of a century and three-quarters 
in this locality, since the first proprietor of these lands, 
James Knapp, came here, and his successor by purchase, 
Richard Temple, settled his sons, Joseph and William, 
and his son-in-law, William Harris, thereon ; as we look 
back to their times, how deeply are we impressed with 
the extent and significance of the changes which have 
since transpired. The same rocks and hills are indeed 
here ; the same heavens are above our heads, the same 
earth is under our feet ; and the same purling brooks 
meander through the valleys into that ancient landmark, 
so often referred to in the old records, the old " North 
Pond," just below us ; but in all things relating to 
humanity and the progress of civilization, how extensive 
are the changes ! Looking over the long list of past 
proprietors and dwellers on the different farms into which 
these lands have been divided, the Temples, Harrises, 
Peables, Smiths, Houghton, Lyon, Fish, the Thaxters, 
Patches, the Farrars, Daniels, Gleasons, Wards, Reeds, 
Rogers, and others of the past, and their contemporaries 
on the surrounding estates, the Flaggs, McKonkeys, 
Whitneys, Barbers, Nichols, Childs, Gearys, Dwelleys, 
Drurys, and others ; in our minds' eye we see them tug- 



18 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER: 

ging away at their work, with their old fashioned imple- 
ments of husbandry, as they followed their humble 
callings, for the maintenance of themselves and those 
near and dear to them by the same family ties which 
bind us to those now depending upon us for support. 
We may well say of these veteran farmers of the olden 
time on these hills and along these valleys : They now 
rest from their labors in their long, last sleep : 

" They have plowed their last furrow and reaped their last grain, 
No morn shall awake them to labor again." 

" Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, 
Their furrow, oft, the stubborn glebe has broke ; 

How jocund did they drive their teams afield, 
How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke. 

The breezy call of incense-breathing morn, 
The swallow twittering from the straw built shed, 

The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn. 
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. 

For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, 

Or busy house-wife ply her evening care ; 
No children run to lisp their sire's return. 

Or climb his knees, the envied kiss to share." 

As we contemplate in imagination these former tillers 
of the soil, with their past time simple modes of husband- 
ry, in striking contrast with our modern improved 
methods of farming by the application of machinery and 
multiplied means of fertilization, making so many blades 
of grass and so many ears of corn and kernels of grain 
grow where but one could formerly be produced ; as we 
take into consideration our modern, vastly multiplied 
facilities for farming, over the past, how forcibly are we 
reminded of the obligation and responsibility of the 
present cultivators of the soil to- " make farming pay " 
to a much greater extent than did our predecessors with 
so much less favorable facilities at their command. If 
our patriotic old forefathers, whom we are in the habit 
of so justly commending for their stern virtues of indus- 
try and perseverance, could secure for themselves and 
their families a comfortable and substantial living, 
educate their children, and hand down their names to us 
as good examples for us to follow, how impressively 
comes to us the sense of obligation and duty for the 



ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 19 

intelligent farmers of this model old agricultural county 
of Worcester, with their immensely increased facilities, 
to set themselves in the foreground as successful prac- 
titioners of the noble art of husbandry, making it pay 
financially as well at least as any other honest busi- 
ness calling in our midst. 

Two hundred and sixty-nine years ago this very day, 
the Mayflower, with its precious load of Pilgrims, had 
arrived in Massachusetts Bay, and was seeking a eafe 
landing place, which they found a few days later on 
Plymouth Rock. For what did they come here, except 
to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and 
maintain an honest subsistence for all by the cultivation 
of the land which they were careful to secure a right to 
by equitable purchase from the Indians, as well as grants 
from the mother country ? They did not come here to 
huddle together in a few large communities, where the 
privileged few might enrich themselves at the expense 
and sacrifice of the labors of the great multitude of 
" hewers of wood and drawers of water;" where concen- 
trated capital might lord it over the toiling millions in 
compact and densely crowded cities. On the contrary, 
they came here to spread out over the land. When one 
little community of proprietors after another, which they 
called towns, miles and miles apart, had become no 
larger in population than your little village of North 
Worcester, they gradually pushed out farther and farther 
into the country for more room, founding Worcester in 
due time in their westward progress from the sea shore. 

Had there been a wider spread over the land, and less 
extension up into the air, in the erection of the many- 
storied structures in our large cities, and had the streets 
upon which they were built been wider instead of so nar- 
row as they are, in violation of the laws of nature, might 
not some of the big fires we have been pained to read 
the details of, been prevented ? " The mills of God," it 
is said, " grind slowly," but they grind sure, and it is 
hoped that wiser action in the future, on the part of those 
most responsible for the present state of things in this 
regard, may be induced from the sad lessons of the past. 



20 AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS — NORTH WORCESTER: 

I would not be understood, of course, as claiming that 
there should be no cities or large towns, or that the size 
of organized civil communities should be limited by any 
arbitrary mathematical rule, — the regular laws of bus- 
iness and trade, if left to operate legitimately, would 
settle this matter properly, — but I do claim that inor- 
dinate selfishness, a one-sided, misguided view of things, 
has crept in and pushed matters in this line out of all due 
proportion, between an honest demand and supply, as to 
actual need and benefit, for the public interest, in the 
extreme modern rush of the rural population into the 
cities, leaving the old farms, with all their ancestral asso- 
ciations, to go to ruin. Had the 95 per cent of those 
who, within my own recollection, have became bankrupt 
in their attempt to run mercantile business in Worcester, 
remained upon the farm, and cultivated that as they 
ought, they might have made a successful thing of it, 
instead of running behind ; they might not have become 
millionaires, but they certainly would not have been 
so far behindhand, pecuniarily, as too many of such adven- 
turous ones have become, and been obliged to resort to 
the statutes of the commonwealth in order to get again 
upon their feet, and become again legally (quite a differ- 
ent thing from morally) square with the world. 

All honor to those of our time who have set noble 
examples in turning attention to the farm in the midst 
of their other avocations. Among these is our estimable 
and enterprising host, one of the five per cent who have 
made a success in their mercantile business, as contradis- 
tinguished from the unfortunate 95 per cent who have 
made a wreck of it. 

Let this rejuvenation of the old farms in New England 
go forward, till, in our travels through the country towns, 
we shall see, instead of dilapidated homesteads of former 
successful tillers of the soil, from the windows of which 
the owl may almost be said to look out at noonday upon 
the decay of a former civilization, we may witness the 
homes of prosperous farmers, with their " cattle upon a 
thousand hills," the landscape interspersed with little mill 
villages along the many streams and waterfalls, while at 



ITS FIRST SETTLERS AND OLD FARMS. 21 

a distance an enterprising city like our own Worcester, 
reaching its proud proportions on the basis of a natural 
growth, on the principles of equity and justice, as the 
grand central mart of trade and business for this section 
of the country, looms up grandly to view, with its 85,000 
inhabitants and huge manufacturing establishments, its 
innumerable churches and unexcelled institutions of 
education and instruction, crowned with that latest and 
most distinguished addition to our educational facilities, 
the celebrated Clark University. 

Mr. Wall's address occupied about an hour in the 
delivery, was listened to with marked attention, and 
warmly applauded at the close. Like the other addresses 
of a similar character by the speaker, relating to other 
localities, it was recognized as a valuable contribution to 
our local history, and requested to be printed in full. 

Remarks followed by Hon. Clark Jillson, B. W. Potter, 
Esq., Ezekiel Newton of Westboro, Joseph Lovell, the 
oldest person present, and Rev. Alonzo Sanderson of 
Laurel Street Church, each giving some interesting rem- 
iniscences relative to matters referred to in the 
address. On motion of H. J. Allen, a vote of thanks was 
extended to Mr. Wall for his address, and to Mr. Lowell 
for his liberal hospitality. A very pleasant feature of 
the occasion was the presence of Ezekiel Newton of 
Westborough, an owner and occupant of the premises for 
39 years — from 1831 to 1870 — who renewed many old 
associations with his former neighbors and friends here. 

Letters were read from Mayor Winslow, President 
Hall of Clark University, and Hon. W. W. Rice, regret- 
ting their inability to be present in response to 
invitations. 

At the close of the exercises a generous collation was 
served by Mr. Lowell, who secured the services of 
caterer Rebboli for the occasion, which will be long 
remembered. 



COMMENDATOEY LETTEES. 



Several other letters, besides those previously alluded to, have 
been received from prominent gentlemen interested in the enter- 
prise in which Mr. Wall is engaged, warmly encouraging him 
in the same. Among them, Charles F. Washburn, Esq., a native 
of Worcester, and representing the largest business enterprise 
in the county, the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, 
writes : 

" I want to thank you for your very kind invitation to listen to your 
address at North Worcester. I should have been very glad to have availed 
myself of the same, had not other imperative engagements stood in the 
way." 

Mayor Winslow's letter, dated Dec. 5, was in these words : 

" Mr "Wall — My Dear Sir. I extremely regret that my official duties 
at the City Hall, Friday evening, will prevent my accepting your polite 
invitation to be present at the farm house of A. S. Lowell, on that evening. 
I have been very much interested in the historical sketches you have so 
carefully made of so many places of note within our city, and I can but 
hope they may be compiled and placed within the reach of all our citi- 
zens. Accept my thanks. 

Respectfully, 

SAMUEL WINSLOW. 

Ex-Mayor and Ex- Congressman W. W. Eice wrote Dec. 5 : 

'' My Dear Mr. Wall. — I was hoping to accept in person your very 
kind invitation to hear your lecture at Mr. Lowell's. There is no subject 1 
am more interested in than the history of those old farms. If, as I fear, 
other engagements may prevent my attending, I hope to have the pleasure 
of perusmg it in print. 

Very truly yours, 

W. W. RICE. 

Similar words of commendation have been received from Ex- 
Mayor Edward L. Davis, a ''native and to the manner born" of 
our noble city. Principal A. S. Eoe of the High School, and 
others, encouraging Mr. Wall to persevere in the good work 
he is doing. 

President G. Stanley Hall, of Clark University, in his letter 
of thanks for the invitation, '' regretted exceedingly that another 
engagement prevented him from attending the meeting." 

Hon. George William Curtis, of New York, whose ancestors 
for five generations were residents of Worcester, wrote express- 
ing the great interest and pleasure with which he had read the 
reports of several of Mr. Wall's addresses and papers on Worces- 
ter, adding, * ' I find that whatever concerns Worcester, seems 
through my ancestors, down to my father, to concern me," 



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